In 1961, President Kennedy asked the nation to work toward putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

In 1968, the Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, was dedicated.

In 1976, U.S. Rep. Wayne L. Hays, D-Ohio, admitted to a “personal relationship” with Elizabeth Ray, a committee staff member who claimed she’d received her job in order to be Hays’ mistress.

In 1979, 275 people died when an American Airlines DC10 crashed on takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

In 1986, an estimated 7 million Americans participated in “Hands Across America,” forming a line across the country to raise money for the nation’s hungry and homeless.

Ten years ago: President Clinton, honoring the men and women who died in military service, used his weekly radio address to defend America’s global military role, saying it “is making our people safer and the world more secure.”

Five years ago: A federal appeals court lifted an injunction on publication of “The Wind Done Gone,” Alice Randall’s satirical retelling of “Gone With The Wind” from a black viewpoint.

One year ago: Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen won Senate confirmation as a federal appeals judge after a ferocious four-year battle. The defense rested in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial without calling the pop star, who ended up being acquitted. Country sweetheart Carrie Underwood won the latest edition of “American Idol.” Ismail Merchant, half of the prestigious Merchant-Ivory filmmaking team, died in London at age 68.